Heaven In Your Mouth Lemon Bars

Darlings you may as well put on your running shoes now and do a few laps because you're gonna want to eat a few of these babies. This is a recipe I came up with my senior year of college because I could never find a lemon bar recipe I really loved, and a few of the men in my life are obsessed with lemon.  


Here are a few of the issues I've had with lemon bars:
-too much egg
-too thin
-too bitter
-no pucker
-too sweet


So I worked out this little baby and I have to say it is pretty amazing and so simple. Give it a try and let me know what you think, I'm bringing a batch to Easter brunch this Sunday!

Crust:
-1 stick butter
-1/4 cup powdered sugar
-1/4 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp vanilla
-2 cups flour (scant)


Filling:
-4 eggs (room temp)
-2 cups sugar
-2/3 cups lemon juice
-3 tbs lemon zest
-4 tbs flour


Preheat oven to 350


For crust: beat butter and powdered sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in vanilla.  Combine flour and salt and add to butter mixture.  Dough will be sand like, don't worry.  Press into 9"x13" or tart pan.  I love using a tart pan for this especially for parties or birthdays.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes then allow to cool while preparing filling.  

Filling: Beat eggs and sugar until pale, add lemon juice and zest.  Slowly add flour beating steadily to avoid lumps.  Pour over cooling crust and bake for 20 minutes.  


Tips: When zesting lemon avoid the white pith, this will give your bars a nice pucker but avoid any bitterness.  You can dust with powdered sugar.  I don't because I hate taking a bite to find powdered sugar all over my clothes and too much can make the bars overly sweet.  


Enjoy!!!




p.s. lavender lemon bar recipe is in the works!